Yemen cholera outbreak kills more than 2,000

Cholera-stricken Siddique Nuruddin Ali, seven, at a treatment centre in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah last Sunday. The cholera outbreak in war-torn Yemen is the largest single-year cholera outbreak on record, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said, with more than 2,150 associated deaths and over 820,000 cases since April. The World Health Organisation last week chartered two flights to the traditional capital of Sanaa carrying over 53 tonnes of medicine and medical supplies. Mr Dujarric said humanitarian workers reached "more than 2.2 million people with essential medicine and (medical) kits". Yemen's civil war has over the past two years ruined the economy and pushed millions to the brink of famine. The war has also destroyed its water sanitation system and hospitals. Without access to clean water, doctors or medical supplies, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have contracted cholera, which spreads through fecal bacteria in water.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on October 15, 2017, with the headline 'Yemen cholera outbreak kills more than 2,000'. Print Edition | Subscribe

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